Monessen wins; coach’s 6th title
Monessen’s players jogged over to their side of Petersen Events Center, waving to friends and family, clapping and jumping in triumph as the final 17 seconds ticked off the clock and they became WPIAL 1A champions.
Senior guard Justice Rice scored 30 points and the Monessen Greyhounds glided to a 74-59 victory against the Imani Christian Saints Thursday night. An upset loss in the semifinals last season made those final seconds of the win that much more special, said senior guard Jaden Altomore, who scored 17 points.
“It means a lot to just go out there and do it for them and bring a championship back home, because last year we got upset, and everybody just expected us to do it this year,” Altomore said. “Like we could have. We were just expected to come here and win because everybody knew what kind of talent we had and where we were at.”
With a minute left in the first quarter, the game got chippy as the Greyhounds started to pull away, 17-9, from Imani Christian, which was appearing in its first WPIAL title game.
Kenny Robinson of Imani Christian and Altomore appeared to exchange shoves behind the referees’ line of sight, and both received technical fouls. The play set the tone for the rest of the half, with seven players reaching three fouls by halftime. Robinson, who is committed to play football at West Virginia, fouled out with 2:17 left in the game.
“WPIAL championships are an emotional game, so I see where he’s coming from,” Rice said of Altomore’s exchange. “But once he calmed down, he started playing really well, taking the ball to the hoop.
“But it’s the same thing if it was me out there playing chippy, playing on edge, he’d be the one calming me down. So it’s not a one-sided thing.”
The Greyhounds and their press defense contributed to the Saints’ 16 firsthalf turnovers, and they were able to turn most into points, with Altomore converting back-to-back turnovers into baskets with 4:40 left in the second quarter, stretching the lead to 31-15. Jumping out to a lead early in the first quarter helped Monessen seize control of the game, Greyhounds coach Joe Salvino said.
“That was very important simply because we didn’t want them to get any kind of momentum because I knew, I mean, when you’re an athletic team, anything can happen,” said Salvino, who won his sixth WPIAL title.
The game stayed feisty. After Imani Christian took a timeout to regroup, Altomore fell to the ground after driving to the basket and got into a scuffle with Sam Fairley, who fouled out with 3:24 left in the game.
Monessen, which entered the game leading the WPIAL in scoring with 79.7 points per game, entered the second half up, 42-25.
Rice continued to dominate in the third quarter, catching his own rebound after a missed free throw and finishing with a basket, making it 50-30 with 4:02 left in the third quarter. Rice had success in the paint throughout the game and often went to his jump shot, taking the advice his dad had offered him earlier in the day about taking the floater rather than driving all the way to the basket.
“Coming into the game, we knew they were an athletic team,” Rice said. “They like to play up on you. But I knew that I was going to be able to get around them. I’m really good at penetrating.”
Robinson led the Saints with 21 points and Fairley followed with 18, but the Saints couldn’t keep pace with the Greyhounds in the second half. A layup by Jaron Youngblood stretched Monessen’s lead to 66-48, and the Greyhounds were able to run out the clock.
Imani Christian coach Anwan Wesley said his team could have limited mistakes more and delivered cleaner passes, but he also felt there were a few missed calls in the game.
“I hate to say it like this, but I just didn’t think it was called fairly,” Wesley said. “We did have some composure issues, a little early on, but at the same time, I think the whistle could have been blown both ways a little earlier.
“But we could have played better, as well.”